A walk up the clover hill
Or down the starfish beach
To the end of the lakefront pier
And back again

Through the bayberry park
Instead of around
These little things
They renew us like the seasons

Gently spading the rich topsoil
Sowing chestnut seeds
And pouring living water
Dripping from our leaves

Finding a new rivulet
A stone bridge yet uncrossed
These little things
They help us finish our reasons

I write because I want people to encounter Jesus: on the written page, with each arching letter formed by the pen; and even in between the lines. In the air, as sound waves resonate in awakening minds. Minds that process pure truth, pure love being shared and deliver the cues straight to the heart.

I want the words–each word I release–to bring hope to those without, healing to those broken, and deliverance to those bound. God has made me to be a freedom writer. By His Spirit, I will write.

My vision is growing; dim at first, but already the blaze has engulfed much of what I once wanted to be. I will likely die a writer never recognized by the masses as such; but, and this is key, I will die a writer. It is what my Father created me to be.

I take this given talent, all of it, and in the most sincere way I know how–I want to give it out. Through me, through these words I master and fumble, pray and plea, may my Creator be glorified.

There was no help for Him as He hung on the cross. Heaven backed away from Him, earth despised and mocked Him, hell beneath wanted to tear Him into unrecognizable shreds, but He maintained control until He took His final breath.

He cried out to heaven, even though He should have felt betrayed. He refused to get bitter; He stayed in Love. He cried out at the earth and she opened up her belly and spit out the souls of her captives; He stayed in Authority. He cried out at the temple and the impassible veil gave eternal way to the cry of His voice; He stayed in Power.

He cried out at the deep and her keys were handed to Him without contestation; He stayed in Dominion. All the while He was hanging on the cross. The very ones He was crying out for heard only the cry of a common criminal asking for a drink to quench His thirst.

May God give us ears to hear, eyes to see.

He spoke and the Power of HIS Words left me speechless. I find no reply. The universe answers HIS call; what could I possibly say?
The stars dazzle, the sun blazes, the planets swirl; day turns to night & night to day.

The sun never goes down. The seas roar, sea monsters splash about, the winds blow, the clouds form, and then empty themselves on the earth. The earth quakes and trembles, the jungle is alive with beasts and trees and miniscule life forms. The desert sands travel, blown about by the wind, the heat burns. Bees pollinate, flowers blossom, dew settles, apple trees bud.

He spoke, and the universe responded. The great and the small, the seen and unseen, strong and the weak, the precious and the vile, solid and fluid, all responding with one collective voice. Giving worship to the Almighty after the purpose for which they were made.

My feeble unharmonious voice I lift up, and to this He responds. With so much going on at one time; at all times, He responds to me. He talks to me like I’m all that matters, never mind that I’m not in sync with the rest of creation; I’m going to be.
Fully synchronized, I stand in dominion; but only in the Power of Love

Jesus is King won’t you say?
He’s King on any given day
He’s King of the young and King of the old
He’s King of all ages from ages untold
There’s no compromising His Order as King
There’s no undermining His Kingly Domain
He’s King of the valley and King of the hill
Of oceans that’s roaring and lakes that are still
For ages to come He will ever be King
The praise of His Kingship, we ever will sing

I come to my King and I bow at His feet
My heart fills with longing whenever we meet
This King of all kings Who would make time for me
To meet as my friend and my Bridegroom to be
His Kingly concerns ever pressing for sure
But He deals with me like I’m all He lives for
I take not for granted this Kingly advance
But humble myself in my confident stance

This King He is sovereign & bows to no one
All kings of all nations must reverence the son
From time immemorial till my King returns
The light of His Kingdom will constantly burn
Now make no mistake, soon His Kingdom will come
The King will descend with His army as one
His Kingdom of love and of peace and of joy
Will make lions snuggle up next to a boy
Let Your Kingdom Come

I can hear Earth’s voice
Declaring praises
To His Name.
Every creature,
Every created thing
Has a rhythm
That moves in sync
With its Creator.

Animals, trees,
Oceans, stars,
Mountains, valleys,
Flowers of the fields –
They each have
Their own
Distinct
Song.

The melodies and harmonies
Resonate
Within my Spirit;
Drawing me deeper
Into the awe
Of His presence,
Vibrating
Within my very bones,
Changing me
Into Light.

staring through darkened void
mind cloudy with ideas
spinning and colliding
at hurricane force
pregnant, swollen, sore
pushing, straining for release

aspiration

gestation

frustration

vision blurs
as salty tears
make snail trails
down my cheeks
silently, expectantly
I wait

devastation

resignation

breathing into me
he ignites each wayward cell
his whisper paints beauty upon my canvas
every word a splash of color
resplendent, illuminating
freeing me to deliver

inspiration

revelation

creation

Lord, I pray that through these devotions you would reveal yourself to us in a deeper way. That we would become full of love and be as children wanting more then anything to spend time at your feet, listening to your words. Set your seal upon our hearts, kiss us with your word, and give us a revelation of your Son, Jesus. AMEN.

God has moved powerfully in my heart since I have been confronted by new revelation of His desire for intimacy with me. Now I feel totally ruined to what the world has to offer. Paul said in Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” We are bondservants bought with a price. We are not our own. We can say, “Master, what would you have me to do?” However, He is more than Master; He is also our Bridegroom! My love for Jesus and my desire to please the Bridegroom is why I live and move and have my being. Therefore I desire to come out of my comfort zone; I desire to be a partaker in His sufferings.

Paul says, “whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.”

I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ…I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death (Phil 3:7-10). What did Paul call garbage? He says in the prior verses; his education, his good family name, his good record of character, and his place of leadership and high standing in society just to name a few. WHY?

Paul had a revelation of the power of making personal sacrifices for that priceless relationship with Jesus. The giving up of legitimate earthly pleasures for intimacy with Jesus. Psalm 27:4 says “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” Read Phil. 3:10-11 again, “Now I have given up everything else – I have found it to be the only way to really know Jesus and to experience the mighty power that brought Him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with Him. So, whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead.”

FAILING AT CHRISTIANITY 101.
Something is happening in my heart and I’m going to try my best to explain it. I run the risk of sounding cliche but, I’m going to do my best to avoid that altogether. What I’m experiencing is changing my heart and will certainly set the path for how I decide to live out the rest of my life. (With this statement comes the high possibility that many more thoughts and additions to this blog could follow. Haha.)

When it comes to my relationship with God, for many years I followed Religion’s guide to Christianity as the source of laying the foundation for my relationship with God. The result of which has been damaging to say the least. Making sure to learn and follow all the rules so that I know what makes God happy and what makes Him disappointed. Learning how to follow the all important list of don’t(s).

What I’ve discovered over time is that this relationship has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with relationship. (sounds cliche but, keep reading) In Christianity’s grade book, I myself, and my guess is about 99.99% of the population of the planet are FAILING. Except pastors of course. (I’m kidding! Sarcastic humor, sorry!)

READ THE BIBLE AND GOD STAYS HAPPY
Is it possible for God to love someone in the midst of flaws? Or is it more realistic to see love as merited to those who obey the rules? Is love awarded to someone when they stay out of trouble, or is love given just as much when they’re in the midst of a sinful lifestyle?

There are so many things in my life that I’ve done with the intent to please God but I’ve carried them out with the motive of obligation. For years, I’ve struggled to read my word consistently, as many people do, and recently I’ve begun to wonder why?

Is it simply because I’m not disciplined enough? I’m sure that plays a part and those with a religious mindset would have me believe that discipline is the sole reason for this shortcoming, but I can’t help but think that there’s more involved. Is God not happy by my lack of discipline? Is God more happy with someone who reads out of the compulsive need to stay in right standing with Him, and for fear that He might love them less as a result? (rhetorical question.) What’s the motive? I’m not justifying a lack of discipline in anyone’s life, nor am I saying that reading the Bible militantly is a bad thing, it’s certainly not, I just believe that the fruit of what we do depends upon the motive of our heart and why we do what we do in the first place.

OBLIGATION,EXIT STAGE LEFT… LOVE, ENTER STAGE RIGHT…
In all that I do with my life, I want it to be an overflow of my love for God. Not, because I have a gifting and I feel the obligation to make use of my calling, but simply because I love Him. I’ve gone through so much useless guilt and condemnation over failures in my walk, both big and small. It’s time that we understand if the motive is love, how can we go wrong when the blood of Christ has covered us wholly?

I want to read my word, because I love Him, and want to know him more. I want to develop my giftings because I love him,and I know that it pleases his heart when I do it with excellence. I want to love people, because I love Him, and loving people is the single thing he wants from me most (aside from loving Him). I want to fast or make a vow, because I love Him, and when it’s right, because I believe it’ll cause me to see Him in a different light by removing things in my life, out of the way.

I don’t want to read my word, because I feel the obligation to read everyday, and by doing so I’m keeping Him less disappointed in me. I don’t want to develop my giftings so that I can simply be better and get further in my ministry (many mistake this for a career, and that topic is for a different blog.) I don’t want to fast or make a vow because I think that God loves people who fast more or because I told it’ll make me more righteous or holy in His sight and in others. I don’t want to walk through life loving myself more than others. And I certainly don’t want to keep striving for an A+ in Christianity and FAILING when it comes to truly loving God and loving people.

THIS IS WHAT I’M LEARNING
At the end of the day, I was told to love. And His love towards me and you has NEVER changed. So, if what I do for God and for others isn’t out of love… it is nothing.

Coty Sloan (January 2009)

In the end of July 2008, I followed God’s leading and moved from Brentwood, Tennessee to Ottertail, Minnesota to be involved in Firestarters Ministries. Upon moving here, I learned that the ministry is no longer permitted to meet in their building because of certain city codes and regulations. Firestarters is in a transitional time right now, and will soon be entering a time of building in order to restore the Creamery into a meeting place for a community with a heart for worship, prophetic ministry and the arts. In the meantime, the ministry has no regular meeting place. Years ago, this may have discouraged me. Now, it only serves to encourage and excite me about all the things that God has in store.

You see, I’ve been living within a state of transition for many years. This is especially true of the past couple of years in which the Lord has brought me through an ever-flowing stream of transition in pretty much every area of my life. As a result, I am no longer a person who fears change. I have grown to love it. Therefore, I feel that it is only fitting that God should bring me here in such a time as this.

One of the first things that He taught me on my journey into transition was that church is not a place, it is a people. This was a major revelation for me. I had grown up in the church, but at the time, I’d been without a “home church” for over a year. It was a frustrating time for me in which I felt quite homeless within the church system. I even thought that perhaps there was something wrong with me spiritually, because no matter how many churches I visited searching for a place to belong, nothing felt right. Then God spoke to me, “Why do you keep looking for a church to call home? You are not homeless. Your home is in ME. Be content with that.” When I received this word from God, He freed me from bondage to institutions and I experienced a paradigm shift.

As Firestarters moves forward in this transitional time, we are not fearful about not having a regular meeting place because we understand that God does not live in structures made by human hands; he dwells within His people by His Spirit. If we belong to Christ, then we have the Spirit of Christ within us (Rom 8:9b). We are His temple, His sanctuary, the holy dwelling place of God; and as we remain in Him, He remains in us (John 15). We are carriers of His presence, therefore, wherever we go, He goes.

I’ve learned over the years that church meets whenever two or more are gathered in His name (Matt 18:20). It does not require a worship band, a preacher, or even a building. It is not confined to special times and days of the week. It does not have a predetermined pattern of activities that must be followed. Church can meet anytime and anywhere because ultimately, God dwells within His people. Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

As Firestarters enters a time of building on the Creamery, I feel we are also entering a time where we are called to build each other up. It is a time for us to grow closer to God and closer as a community encouraging one another in our gifts, growing stronger in faith, and allowing God to build us into the full expression of His vision and desire for this ministry. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10.

- Angela Garcia (July 2008)